The effects of antifoulant-paint-contaminated sediments on coral recruits and branchlets

The 184-m cargo ship "Bunga Teratai Satu" ran aground on Sudbury Reef, within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, on 2 November 2000. Although no cargo or fuel was lost, the ship remained aground for 12 days and a large quantity of antifoulant paint containing tributyltin (TBT), zinc, and copper was scraped from the hull during the grounding and subsequent refloating operation. This resulted in extensive contamination of the reef sediments for up to 250 m surrounding the grounding site. Two laboratory-based experiments assessed the impact of contaminated sediments on the survival of both newly settled corals of Acropora microphthalma and branchlets of A. formosa. Newly settled corals exposed to sediments containing 8.0 mg kg^–1 TBT, 72 mg kg^–1 Cu, and 92 mg kg^–1 Zn or greater suffered significantly higher mortality after 72 h, compared to control or low-concentration treatments. Coral recruits exposed to 40 mg kg^–1 TBT (Sn), 306 mg kg^–1 Cu, and 403 mg kg^–1 Zn were all killed within 38 h. Branchlets from adult corals exposed to sediments with a high concentration of contaminants (TBT 160 mg kg^–1, Cu 1,180 mg kg^–1, and Zn 1,570 mg kg^–1) suffered significant mortality (38%), whereas branchlets placed in treatments with lower levels of contaminants suffered no mortality. Visual bleaching of the branchlets was observed at high contaminant levels, but an overall reduction in the symbiotic zooxanthellae populations was not observed in surviving corals. The photosynthetic yields of light-adapted zooxanthellae remained constant in live branchlets, indicating that the TBT-contaminated sediment may be more toxic to the host than the symbiont. Our results show that antifoulant contamination at ship-grounding sites has the potential to cause major mortality of resident coral communities and can have a negative impact on the recovery of adult populations.Communicated by P.W. Sammarco, Chauvin     

Morphological adaptation of a planktonic diatom to growth in Antarctic sea ice

Chaetoceros dichaeta Ehrenberg is one of the most important planktonic diatom species in the Southern Ocean, making a significant contribution to the total biomass in the region. Our observations on both field and culture material have revealed the existence of a specialized form of C. dichaeta adapted to living in sea ice. This sea ice form differs from the planktonic form by the shape and orientation of the setae and the aperture length between sibling cells. Thus, the diameter of the chain is equivalent to the apical axes of the cells and is accompanied by a two order of magnitude decrease in minimal space requirement. Here, we report for the first time on the extraordinary overwintering strategy of a planktonic diatom in sea ice facilitated by its rapid morphological adaptation to changing environmental conditions. This morphological plasticity enables it to thrive in the confined space of the sea ice brine matrix and retain its numerical dominance in recurrent growing seasons and has likely evolved to optimally exploit the dynamic ecosystem of the seasonally ice-covered seas of the Southern Ocean.     

Coral architecture affects the habitat choice and form of associated gobiid fishes

Gobiid fishes of the genus Gobiodon live in strong association with certain reef-building corals that vary considerably in size and architecture. These fishes hence are excellent model systems for studying evolutionary adaption to specific microhabitats. Using a sample of Gobiodon histrio and G. rivulatus and their most important host corals (Acropora digitifera and A. gemmifera) from the northern Red Sea, we assess (1) how corals that are occupied by gobies differ in their architecture from colonies that are not occupied and (2) how fish body shape is associated with the architecture of their host coral. Fish body shape was assessed by geometric morphometric techniques. Coral measurements included colony size, branch length (BL), and interbranch as well as branch tip distance of adjacent branches, for which we applied a new and non-destructive measurement technique based on casts of two-component epoxy resin. The most important factor influencing the occupation of corals was a BL of more than 5 cm. The distance between coral branches was clearly related to the width of the fishes and hence constrained overall fish size. G. histrio and G. rivulatus differ in adult body shape as well in their allometric development of lateral body compression, resulting in different maximum body sizes attainable in the restricted interbranch space of corals. The strong dependence of coral-associated fishes on large coral colonies with specific architectures increases the extinction risk of fishes within deteriorating coral reefs.     

Flow aeration, cavity processes and energy dissipation on flat and pooled stepped spillways for embankments

The design floods of several reservoirs were recently re-evaluated and the revised spillway outflow could result in dam overtopping with catastrophic consequences for some embankment structures. Herein a physical study was performed on flat and pooled stepped spillways with a slope typical of embankments $(\uptheta = 26.6^{\circ })$ and four stepped configurations were tested: a stepped spillway with flat horizontal steps, a pooled stepped spillway, and two stepped spillways with in-line and staggered configurations of flat and pooled steps. The focus of the study was on the flow aeration, air–water flow properties, cavity flow processes, and energy dissipation performances. The results demonstrated the strong aeration of the flow for all configurations. On the in-line and staggered configurations of flat and pooled steps, the flow was highly three-dimensional. The residual head and energy dissipation rates at the stepped chute downstream end were calculated based upon the detailed air–water flow properties. The results showed that the residual energy was the lowest for the flat stepped weir. The data for the stepped spillway configuration with in-line and staggered configurations of flat and pooled steps showed large differences in terms of residual head in the transverse direction. Altogether the present results showed that, on a $26.6^{\circ }$ slope stepped chute, the designs with in-line and staggered configurations of flat and pooled steps did not provide any advantageous performances in terms of energy dissipation and flow aeration, but they were affected by three-dimensional patterns leading to some flow concentration.     

What do we really know about the impacts of one of the 100 worst invaders in Europe? A reality check

Invasive species are one of the greatest threats to biodiversity worldwide, and to successfully manage their introductions is a major challenge for society. Knowledge on the impacts of an invasive species is essential for motivating decision makers and optimally allocating management resources. We use a prominent invasive fish species, the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) to objectively quantify the state of scientific knowledge on its impacts. Focusing on how native fish species are affected by round goby invasions, we analyzed 113 peer-reviewed papers and found that impacts are highly ecosystem and time scale dependent. We discovered round goby impacts to be profound, but surprisingly complex. Even if identical native species were affected, the impacts remained less comparable across ecosystems than expected. Acknowledging the breadth but also limitations in scientific knowledge on round goby impacts would greatly improve scientists’ ability to conduct further research and inform management measures.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0718-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Challenges and opportunities of power systems from smart homes to super-grids

The world’s power systems are facing a structural change including liberalization of markets and integration of renewable energy sources. This paper describes the challenges that lie ahead in this process and points out avenues for overcoming different problems at different scopes, ranging from individual homes to international super-grids. We apply energy system models at those different scopes and find a trade-off between technical and social complexity. Small-scale systems would require technological breakthroughs, especially for storage, but individual agents can and do already start to build and operate such systems. In contrast, large-scale systems could potentially be more efficient from a techno-economic point of view. However, new political frameworks are required that enable long-term cooperation among sovereign entities through mutual trust. Which scope first achieves its breakthrough is not clear yet.